Nintendo 3DS XL review

Wired rating

Wired

Bigger screen is better, improved battery life, still the only
glasses-free console on the market, good price

Tired

3D effect feels like a novelty at best, uncomfortable to play
for long periods, low resolution screens

Price

£180

With European sales of the Nintendo 3DS "weak" according to the company's president, Satoru Iwata, one
had to wonder what he would do to strengthen shipments of the
glasses-free 3D handheld. His solution? Build a massive
version.

The Nintendo 3DS XL, on sale in the UK at the end of July for
£180, uses much larger screens than those of the original 3DS, and
it actually makes a big difference.

Design
The extra-dimensional effect on the original 3DS's 3D screen,
while innovative, always felt restricted by its 90mm size. That
upper screen is 124mm on the 3DS XL and really gives the experience
of playing a 3D game a bump.

The lower screen, which supports touch, has also been increased
in size by roughly the same amount.

Screen and resolution
As ever, the devil is in the details. Although the screen size has
increased, the resolution of the picture being displayed has not.
When smartphone makers
release larger phones, for example, they increase the resolution
(the number of pixels) of the screen accordingly. Nintendo has not,
and so the very-average-at-best resolution delivered by the
original 3DS is now stretched even more outside of its comfort zone
-- and it shows.

There's an easy comparison to make. Take your smartphone out of
your pocket, turn it on, then hold it a few inches from your face.
See if you can see the individual pixels well enough to count them
one-by-one. Chances are you can't. On the 3DS XL, you can. A few
years ago this wouldn't been a conspicuous factor to most people,
but with today's smartphones being such a huge competitor to
handheld consoles, drawing comparisons to them is both inevitable
and important.

Fortunately, the comparison doesn't necessarily lead to a
negative outcome. In our time with the device the low resolution
wasn't any more an issue than the 3D effect still being a novelty
at best -- it's still uncomfortable to play for long periods of
time, adds little to the gaming experience and makes it all but
impossible to share that experience with a friend (the 3D only
works if you look at the screen head-on).

But we had to concede that overall the experience was better
than it was on the old 3DS thanks to the size of the screen. The 3D
effect seems to disguise the low resolution reasonably well, and
having a bigger canvas to experience it lets you feel a bit more
"sucked into" the action.

Features and cameras
Elsewhere very little has apparently changed at first glance. The
chassis of the console has had a redesign and feels decent enough,
though doesn't have anywhere near the same luxury appeal as the PlayStation Vita. But the other big improvement is in battery
life, which should give you an extra hour or so of 3D gaming
compared to the 3DS.

Other specifications remain unchanged, such as graphical
horsepower, RAM and the device's cameras. Original 3DS games will
function on the new model, and photographs taken on either will be
supported on the other -- the 3D camera on the rear of the 3DS XL
is no different to the one on the 3DS.

UK buyers beware: there's no charger in the box. That's an
"optional" extra purchase -- a term we use reluctantly given how
generally essential chargers are to the process of charging a
battery. Unless you own one already (a 3DS charger will charge the
3DS XL) you'll need to factor that expense into your buying
decision.

Conclusion
Although we still have a large question mark over the whole idea
of the 3DS -- both the original and the XL, thanks to its generally
lacklustre 3D experience and relatively low-end graphical
performance -- the 3DS XL is arguably the better console.

For first-time buyers of Nintendo's 3D experiment, the XL is
definitely the way to go. For owners of the current model thinking
of upgrading, ask yourself this: how often do you actually use your
3DS? And how much do you actually enjoy the 3D effect? If you
answered "quite often" and "a reasonable amount", then it's worth
considering the upgrade for sure.

For everyone else, it might be safer to wait and see what
Nintendo has over the horizon.

Comments

"With European sales of the Nintendo 3DS "weak" according to the company's president, Satoru Iwata"

That isnt what he said

way to troll

tanto

Jul 9th 2012

"Although we still have a large question mark over the whole idea of the 3DS"

Its number 1 in the world

" both the original and the XL, thanks to its generally lacklustre 3D experience and relatively low-end graphical performance "

the 3d is great and graphics dont matter

way to troll wired

tanto

Jul 9th 2012

What's wrong? If you think 3DS is such garbage why do you make articles about it? I meank 3DS goes far beyond DS, Nintendo doesn't invest too much on hardware, that's something people know and understand, if not, they don't buy 3DS but Vita.

Sunrise

Jul 9th 2012

You can't increase resolution without games being upscaled which will look like crap.

3D a novelty? I guess walking around and seeing in 3D is a novelty too then? Maybe don't declare something basically gimmicky based on your opinion. 3D, the addition of actual depth, is a graphical enhancement just as more resolution and more polygons are.

You mention Vita, all of those touch screens aren't a "novelty"?

LamerGamer

Jul 11th 2012

After a cheap 3DS XL?

If you are new to Zavvi make an account with referrer code ZV15625875 to get 5% off making it £159.55

If you buy it after the day of release as well you can use code CONSOLE at checkout to receive another £5.95 making it less than £155 :D

ritty

Jul 24th 2012

.... and then there's the option (and room for) a 2nd circle pad plus the standard buttons. That way the current 3DS users wouldn't have a new system to buy and game developers could create new games that would do really well with two circular pads. For a little more money Nintendo could've made a lot more money. The terrible cameras, the ugly colors, no charger for the European and Asian communuties, the screen resolution.... All if improved would have made this system an incredible experience that people would pay a little extra for. Instead, decisions were made at Nintendo that show that they are losing touch with their customer base (decisions that quite frankly are dishonorable), and they are going to have to fight hard to earn back our trust. One has to seriously wonder what they were thinking.